Friday, March 14, 2008

Welcome to Northern Ireland

I am pleased to add a new site to my links list and a new entry to my roster of labels. Gerard Brennan's Crime Scene NI is "Primarily devoted to the post-Troubles boom in Northern Irish crime fiction" and "also highly interested in all Irish, Euro and international crime fiction."

That sounds good, especially the part about the "post-Troubles boom." Sounds like a phrase that could launch a thousand books.

Check out the site for information about crime writers, Northern Irish and otherwise, and an information-packed set of opening posts that includes the first discussion I have ever seen of gender-based author initials.

It's nice to see the North and the South fielding a joint team. With respect to preferred forms of expressing nationality, it reminds one that the former violence in the North got much more press than the humble rhythms of everyday life do today. Perhaps one has to read crime fiction to find out what's really going on.

We've got something called dual nationality here now, which means you have the right to refer to yourself as Irish or British, depending on your political aspirations. Bateman actually does a great bit on it in one of his books. To paraphrase, "If I'm ever on a plane that gets hi-jacked I'll say I'm Irish, because the British guy is always the first to be shot in that situation."

I'm happy with Irish, but Northern Irish is safest, I guess.

I don't think the rugby team will mind what you call them if they win. They'll be too pissed to understand you.

And yes, as far as I can see, the new crime fiction coming out of NI is giving a very true reflection of the present situation.

DJ was written in 1999, and with each new book, you get a taste of the political climate in NI at that time (except for the two that are set in the states, but read those anyway for continuity). And in I Predict A Riot (the one just before his last), you get a very up to date view of Bateman's Belfast.

The rest of his stuff is great too, but the Dan Starkey series is essential reading.

Basically, I recommend you buy eight of his twenty-one books to start with. A bit extreme, but I hope that helps.

Links to this post:

About Me

This blog is a proud winner of the 2009 Spinetingler Award for special services to the industry and its blogkeeper a proud former guest on Wisconsin Public Radio's Here on Earth. In civilian life I'm a copy editor in Philadelphia. When not reading crime fiction, I like to read history. When doing neither, I like to travel. When doing none of the above, I like listening to music or playing it, the latter rarely and badly.
Click here to find an independent bookstore near you.